so you go to angie's list. yelp or another customer review site. >> can you trust the first thing that pops up on your screen as being the best? tonight's news4 i-team trisha thompson shows why you some businesses say it is all about the money. >> reporter: customer review sites offering honest to goodness opinions written by real customers. including the good, the bad, and the ugly. but how big a part does money play? >> i'm a firm believer that, you know, you have to earn where you are. >> reporter: ram si the manager of a plumbing company in sterling, virginia. >> everything i have checked is positive reviews. >> reporter: he didn't understand whether angie's list places his company 158th on the site. a eight pages in below companies with lower grades. in he got a call from angie's list. asking him to advertise on its site. >> it was in excess of $50,000 to be ranked above -- companies that have lower rankings than we did. >> no company can pay to be on angie's list. >> reporter: the company's founder says i